N.J. Republicans raise more than $1M in three months, while Democrats raise $657K

Ed Murray/The Star-LedgerGov. Chris Christie holds a town meeting in Woodbridge on March 15. Christie has boosted the Republican Partyâs funds.

TRENTON — The last time the three major Republican committees had more money than the Democrats, Christie Whitman was governor, Lou Bega’s "Mambo No. 5" was burning up the charts, and some people were worried about the Y2K bug.

But the era of Democratic fundraising dominance appears to have ended. The state’s election watchdog released reports Tuesday showing that the Republican State committee and the party’s two legislative leadership fundraising arms took in $1.08 million for the first three months of the year compared with $657,000 for the Democrats.

Jeffrey Brindle, executive director of the Election Law Enforcement Commission, said that although the Republican State Committee alone slightly out-raised its Democratic counterpart last year, this was the first time since 1999 the Republican statewide committees had surpassed those of the Democrats.

There were two major reasons for the Republican reversal of fortune: Gov. Chris Christie has boosted his party’s funds while the deep-pocketed Jon Corzine, who was voted out of the governor’s office after one term, has turned off the campaign contribution spigot.

"You clearly see this momentum," said Brigid Harrison, a political science professor at Montclair State University.

She added, "Christie’s position as a leader within the national Republican Party spawns contributions that we typically wouldn’t be seeing in the State of New Jersey."

In addition, leadership of the Republican State Committee changed in January, with Assemblyman Jay Webber (R-Morris) stepping down as chairman to make way for Samuel Raia, a fundraiser from Saddle River.

Last month, the Republican State Committee had a fundraiser to commemorate Christie’s first year in office for which top-level tickets sold for $10,000 apiece.

Both parties are building up their war chests in preparation for November, when all 120 seats in the state Assembly and Senate will be up for grabs. In the first three months of 2007 — the last year all the seats were at stake — Democrats raised $1.37 million compared with $300,000 for Republicans.

But this time around, Harrison predicted, the Republicans’ money is not likely to help them gain control of either chamber because the Democrats prevailed in this month’s redistricting.

"I still don’t think that’s a possibility given this map," she said.

John Wisniewski, the Democratic State chairman, said his party planned to increase its fundraising over the next year, adding that he expected the Republican advantage to be temporary.

"It will turn around in 2014, when there’s a new governor," he said. "Anybody who follows New Jersey politics knows people will pay steep ticket prices to go to an event with the governor, so they’re taking advantage of that for fundraising."

Wisniewski said the Democrats have controlled the Legislature since 2004 "not just because of money, but because of the candidates."

Rick Gorka, spokesman for the New Jersey Republican State Committee, credited Christie with the bigger bankroll this year.

"Donors across New Jersey are responding in a positive way to the governor’s bold leadership and strong reform proposals," he said.